Flushed (1997)

the problem here is not the execution; the problem is the concept.

sure, how great and novel to set a whole film in the bathroom. isn't this indy; isn't this groundbreaking! isn't it voyeuristic.

the problem is that novelty isn't enough to hold a film together. story and plot of some kind are important... that's the director's real cargo and real treasure. the problem is not that much happens at a nightclub, so far as truly fictive material is concerned, and even less happens in a nightclub bathroom. best case scenario for a film like this, you get 2hrs of disjointed, but amusing, vignettes.

bad news, kids, not all the vignettes are amusing, and after about 15 mins one gets quite bored with all the MTV-style machine gun flushing montages.

they would have done much better to stick to a cast of characters, who perhaps begin in the bathroom, and follow them out into the world where stories happen. isn't that a novel idea? yet another indie film far to concerned with being hip to actually give us anything substantive. this is a reminder that obscurity in an industry with a reputation for vacuousness doesn't necessarily mean you have something to say. it may just mean you're vacuous with poor production values.